Learn a phrase to get you to your destination when taking a taxi
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| INTRODUCTION |
| In this lesson you’ll learn how to get to places by taxi. There are two options in the Czech Republic to take a taxi - you call and the taxi will come to your address, or you go to a taxi stand and take it from there. If you are in the Czech Republic for the first time, you might not know where the taxi stand is, so you will have to call the taxi. So let’s get started. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Imagine you are in Prague. You want to go to the National theater. You are at the main station. You call the taxi company, and the person who answers says “How may I help you?” In Czech, this is: |
| Co si přejete, prosím?. |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Co si pře-je-te, pro-sím? |
| Once more: |
| Co si přejete, prosím? |
| The first word, co means “what”. |
| This is followed by si přejete, which is the form of the verb “to wish”. |
| Finally, the familiar prosím meaning “please”. |
| Co si přejete, prosím? Literally, this translates to “What do you wish, please?” |
| ・ |
| Answer back by saying that you want a taxi, and giving your location. Say Jedno taxi na then say your location, and add prosím at the end. |
| For example, you can say “A taxi to the main station, please.” In Czech, this is.. |
| Jedno taxi na hlavní nádraží, prosím. |
| (slow) Jed-no ta-xi na hlav-ní ná-dra-ží, pro-sím. |
| Jedno taxi means “one taxi”. |
| (slow) Jed-no ta-xi. |
| Jedno taxi. |
| Na hlavní nádraží is literally translated as “at the main station”. |
| Na hlavní means “at the main”: |
| (slow) Na hlav-ní. |
| Na hlavní. |
| Nádraží means “station”: |
| (slow) Nád-ra-ží. |
| Nádraží. |
| Once more all together that’s |
| (slow) Jed-no ta-xi na hlav-ní ná-dra-ží, pro-sím. |
| Jedno taxi na hlavní nádraží, prosím. |
| In English, the whole sentence will be translated as “One taxi to the main station, please.” |
| ・ |
| The person on the phone will then ask you where you want to go. This will be ‘Where do you want to go?” or in Czech.. |
| Kam pojedete? |
| Kam means “where”: |
| (slow) Kam. |
| Kam. |
| Pojedete is the future form of the verb “to go”. It literally means “you will go”. |
| (slow) Po-je-de-te. |
| Pojedete. |
| All together we have: Kam pojedete? |
| Now, you want to say “To the National theater.” in Czech, this is Do Ná-rod-ní-ho di-vad-la. |
| Breaking this down, we have Do and after that the name of the place you want to go to. In our case, it would be National theater. |
| Listen to the phrase again. |
| (slow) Do Ná-rod-ní-ho di-vad-la. |
| Do Národního divadla. |
| In this case Do means “to”. |
| (slow) Do. |
| Do. |
| Národního is the form of the word “national”. |
| (slow) Ná-rod-ní-ho. |
| Národního. |
| Divadla is the form of the word “theater”. |
| (slow) Di-vad-la. |
| Divadla. |
| All together that’s |
| (slow) Do Ná-rod-ní-ho di-vad-la. |
| Do Národního divadla. |
| Next the person will tell you the amount of time you have to wait and sometimes the type of car. It will be |
| Jedna Škoda Octavia za tři minuty, počkejte prosím. |
| In English, it means “A Škoda Octavia will come in three minutes, please wait.” |
| The first word jedna means “one” and Škoda Octavia is the type of the car. |
| This is followed by za tři minuty, which is literally translated as “in three minutes” |
| (slow) Za tři mi-nu-ty. |
| Za tři minuty. |
| Next we have počkejte which is a present tense form of the verb that means “to wait”. |
| (slow) Poč-kej-te. |
| Počkejte. |
| And last we have the always present prosím. |
| Let’s hear the whole phrase one more time: |
| Jedna Škoda Octavia za tři minuty, počkejte prosím. |
| The general meaning is “A Škoda Octavia will come in three minutes, please wait.” |
| ・ |
| You will go out, see your taxi, greet the driver of course and say the address again. At the end of the drive you will need to ask how much you have to pay: “How much do I have to pay?” In Czech, this is.. |
| Kolik platím? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Ko-lik pla-tím? |
| Once more |
| Kolik platím? |
| The first words, kolik, means “how much” |
| (slow) Ko-lik. |
| Kolik. |
| Next we have platím which is a present tense form of the verb that means “to pay” |
| (slow) Pla-tím. |
| Platím. |
| The entire question is |
| (slow) Ko-lik pla-tím? |
| Kolik platím? |
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